ditch`s stout..

[dunc]

its a good un alright. I can't decide which I like better, the stout is ready here and hitting all the right buttons. Have bought another kit and its going in my next empty barrel, cos this batch isn't going to last me long!

[sargie]

I took a sample from my coopers stout just now to tkae a hydrometer reading.It is down to 1008 so i may bottle tommorow. Thing is it smells ok bit like coffe,black treacle sort of smell and if i sip a bit it tastes ok but if i take a mouthfull it tastes burnt and very very very bitter. I seriously hope it is going to improve if it stays this bitter it will be going down the sink

[Ditch]

Steady on Sargie! Let it at least get out of the FV before condemning it!

Dark malt likely ups the 'bitterness' to start with. But, that aside, it's one of the most rapidly changing brews there is.

So, it's a bit too bitter in the FV? Fine. Get it out of there and get it kegged. Taste it. Leave it alone a week. Taste it. Then taste it ~ and I Do mean Taste it; Don't go pouring a gallon down ye throat, or the lot down the sink ~ after another week. And see how rapidly, and how much, it changes over even the ensuing days. Because it will.

Ignore the book bashers, mate. Keep an open mind and learn by what they can't be seen to allow themselves to experience Just stick with it and see how things happen. Form an opinion after the keg's been drunk. Not before it even gets in there.


Oh and, for the record; I slung my own first ever brew of Coopers! Why? Because I'd read so much about smells, 'off tastes' and 'TCP' that I convinced myself it didn't smell / taste right, in the FV! What the hell was I thinking of?! Now I know it Always smells and tastes that way, at first. See above.

[araldite]

Sargie
consider yourself told by the master

Seriously mate i could drink it out of the fv but have found it does have a "bitterness",a day or two in the barrel and it will round off and become a little milder for want of a better word, you will see a difference i promise you

[Birdy]

Sargie, when I did my first coopers mine tasted like that for a wk and half after bottling. It was totaly undrinkable so I put on a similar post to yours about chucking it and was strongly advised not to. So I didnt touch it for a further 2wks and it turned in to a cracking pint,and further improved the longer I left it so give it time I'm sure it will turn out ok.

I dont actually know what happened with that first one cos I had a bottle of my latest coopers last night after just a week and it tastes great

[sargie]

Wow thanks for all the replys. It smells amazing real choclaty,coffee aromas. I was like you ditch slightly worried by this biterness because of what ive read about tastes and smells. Im happy now and confident that it will come good after conditioning. I will bottle tonight and try it again in a week or 2 this brew is for planned for xmas anyway so it has got lot's of time to condition, i was just worried because of how overwhelmingly bitter it was.

Thanks once again for the replys and ill post back in a week or 2:)

[KevP]

Hoorah! Just for fun I put 3 Coopers Stouts on today for some winter stock.

[araldite]

Hoorah! Just for fun I put 3 Coopers Stouts on today for some winter stock.

Good lad sounds like its going to be a good christmas

As an update on the coopers stout ive just done one with a dark bke from leyland homebrew and the stuff that went into the barrel was very promising its 4 foot away from me conditioning as i type, and reading this thread im struggling not to go an get a glass

[RIP]

Ive got a coopers stout brewing in the FB now, got the woodburner on so it's bubbling away like hell, every 2 seconds. I used 500g of med spraymalt and 500g of dextrose is this OK ?

[Ditch]

RIP; Interesting and timely statement. My own stove goes on most nights now. But my FV is two rooms away and has a fish tank heater in it, set for 19F. I still seriously doubt it ever clicks on. But, my brew's sedately moving on there. It's not going ballistic and never has.

I suspect it's the potential for some people to ferment their gear at a 'customary and comfortable room temperature' of maybe five degrees F above my own temps which leads to the explosions and bubbling air locks? Dunno. Never really took that much notice or kept proper records.

Regards the malt / dextrose mix? You tell us, mate. See what ye think of the result. Then, if ye want to compare that to what I personally, customarily do? Next time, drop the dextrose and use a K of Medium Dry Malt.

On reflection though? I believe the K of malt would likely keep the flavours up to my own preferred levels. I reckon ye'll get a percentage more power, in exchange for a percentage less taste.

But, hell; If we were 'Beer Snobs' to That degree? We'd be AGing in our search for 'Perfection'.

Me? I just like a Great pint. Coopers Stout makes me happy

[RIP]

I'll let you know how it turns out. If it's anything like the other 2 brews Ive done, it won't be around for long. Went on a weekend away recently and ran out of the home brew so ended up buying a can of the Carlsberg lager I used to drink, couldn't finish the pint it was like fizzy water. Can't believe how nice these kits turn out.

[KevP]

Me? I just like a Great pint. Coopers Stout makes me happy

I think we'll all raise a glass to that Ditch